E-Malt.com News article: USA, CA: Carneros Brewing Company to launch a line of low-alcohol beers

Jesus Ceja thinks beer drinkers have had enough of the extremely strong and hoppy brews that some companies make, so he’s planning to do something different.

“It’s a job to drink one of those big heavy triple IPAs and all that,” he said, as he sipped a pilsner in the tap room and brew house of Carneros Brewing Company, which opened Saturday, July, 27. “It’s all about enjoying the beer and the hop varietals we have and the beautiful beer we craft.”

Carneros Brewing Company, which opened Saturday, July, 27, is starting with a line of five beers, all relatively light in alcohol but large in flavour, press Democrat reported on July, 31.

None of the beers reach 6 percent alcohol by volume, an unusual line up in a modern microbrewery, where beers routinely soar to 8 percent and beyond and powerful India Pale Ales lead the line up. Even their IPA is just 5.8 percent alcohol and has a more subdued hop flavour than many similar brews.

The lighter style of the beers stems partly from Jesus Ceja, the owner, who has a background as a long time brewer at Anheuser-Busch, maker of Budweiser and other mainstream beers. In his own brewery, he wants to find a middle ground between the mild, mass-market beers he used to brew and the more challenging beers made by other craft producers.

“A lot of the IPAs that are on the market, they are not food compatible, because, I think, once you drink about half a glass, you saturate the palate where you are unable to taste the nuances, the beauty of the dish,” he said. “And so we want that balance, that compatibility of the glass and the plate.


02 August, 2013